And The Dukes Bring Back...

HARRISONBURG — It didn’t take long for the words “next year” and “repeat” to surface after James Madison beat Youngstown State 28-14 last week in Frisco, Texas, to win a national title for the second time in school history.

The program’s first-year coach Mike Houston didn’t hesitate to discuss what his team returns for 2017 during his postgame press conference.

“Last time I checked, a lot of them are coming back next year, and we’ve talked about that we’ve got great expectations after we finish celebrating this championship,” Houston said. “So hopefully JMU’s here to stay.”

He added two of his graduating seniors, cornerback Taylor Reynolds and linebacker Gage Steele, had already mentioned “repeat” to the underclassmen in the locker room after the game.

“Taylor Reynolds and Gage Steele were two of the most adamant,” Houston said. “They’re alumni now, so they can put all the pressure on us. But they’re right. You’ve created expectations.”

Madison will miss Reynolds, Steele, All-American running back Khalid Abdullah and rest of the senior class, but the team returns more than it loses.

Here’s a position-by-position look at what the Dukes bring back for 2017:

Quarterback

• Schor, Co. Johnson, Mitch: JMU should feel it has a chance to duplicate its title run because quarterback Bryan Schor is back for his senior year.

Schor asserted himself as the Dukes’ leader in 2016 after beating out South Carolina transfer Connor Mitch for the starting role. He threw for 3,002 yards, ran for 569 yards, accounted for 39 total touchdowns (29 passing, 10 rushing) and made all the checks at the line of scrimmage to get his offense into the right play during the season.

He was the Colonial Athletic Association’s Offensive Player of the Year, the Dudley Award Winner and the College Football Performance Award’s FCS National Performer of the Year.

It’ll be the first time in Schor’s JMU career he’s expected to have the same offensive coordinator — Donnie Kirkpatrick — for a second straight season, which should only further his development.

The backup quarterback situation is more interesting. Mitch has another year of eligibility, but Cole Johnson proved his value in JMU’s November wins at Villanova and against Elon when he filled in for an injured Schor. JMU could redshirt Johnson next fall like it intended to do in 2016, but it could be tempted to have him backup Schor again.

Running Back

• Ca. Johnson, Sharp, Woods: Abdullah ran for 1,809 yards and 22 touchdowns to lead FCS in both categories, but JMU has good depth at the position.

Cardon Johnson, who missed the team’s run through the postseason with an Achilles injury, is expected to be healthy by the summer. Johnson ran for 704 yards and eight touchdowns before the injury. Trai Sharp and Taylor Woods both saw action alongside Abdullah after Johnson got hurt. Sharp ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Dukes’ win over Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals.

The position also adds Georgia Tech transfer Marcus Marshall, who led the Yellow Jackets in rushing in each of the past two seasons.

Wide Receiver

• Alls, Miller, Hyman: This position group loses three — Brandon Ravenel, Domo Taylor and Rashard Davis — of its top four performers in receiving yards and receptions. Only Terrence Alls, who missed the semifinals and championship game due to suspension, has another year of eligibility.

John Miller, who hauled in the key touchdown pass from Schor at North Dakota State filling in for Alls, is back, as is Ishmael Hyman, who made five catches in 2016.

Tight End

• Kloosterman: With three of his favorite receivers gone, Schor likely will look to tight end Jonathan Kloosterman even more than he did throughout JMU’s national-title run.

Kloosterman caught five red-zone touchdowns in the postseason and had seven red-zone touchdowns overall in 2016.

After JMU’s win over Youngstown State, Schor said Kloosterman is his best friend on the team. Expect these two to continue to lean on each other in 2017.

Offensive Line

• Stinnie, Bolden, Chavious, Patrick: Left tackle Aaron Stinnie and left guard A.J. Bolden started every game at their positions for James Madison this year, which should help the offensive line continue to progress in the right direction despite losing three key pieces in center Kyle Rigney, right guard Matt Frank and right tackle Mitchell Kirsch.

It will also help transition in a few new starters, considering redshirt freshman Tyree Chavious started three games and played all but two series in the postseason filling in for Kirsch, who was injured. Freshman center Mac Patrick also saw action when Rigney got hurt in JMU’s win at North Dakota State.

Defensive Line

• Anrkah, Brown, Carter, Ezeagwu, Robinson, Urquhart: The defensive line is probably in an even better spot than the offensive line. The group returns Andrew Ankrah, Brandon Brown, Darrious Carter, David Ezeagwu, Simeyon Robinson and Cornell Urquhart, who all rotated across the front with the graduating Martez Stone.

Anrkah will probably enter the year as a preseason All-American and All-CAA choice, and he might be JMU’s best NFL prospect heading into the 2017 season.

Linebacker

• Holloway, Hereford, Hawkins: Dimitri Holloway and Brandon Hereford were steady for JMU throughout 2016 playing in a platoon-like role, accompanying the starter Steele.

Hereford, like Alls, was suspended for the semifinals and championship, but has another year of eligibility left.

In 2016, Holloway and Hereford combined for 149 tackles.

One of the backups at the position, Kyre Hawkins is also back. Hawkins made five tackles against Youngstown State after he was called on when Holloway was hurt.

Safety

• Greene, Brown: Thanks to a retroactive medical redshirt, safety Raven Greene was granted another year of eligibility back in November.

At the time, Greene said he was excited to see what he could do with a whole offseason to learn more about defensive coordinator Bob Trott’s system. JMU led the country with 21 interceptions, Greene had six of them.

Fellow safety Jordan Brown returns as well — he had 92 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions in 2016 as a junior.

Cornerback

• Oliver, Moreland, Robinson, Tutt: Cornerbacks coach Tripp Weaver might have the most loaded group that any of the defensive staff members bring back.

In the quarterfinals, Sam Houston State couldn’t do anything offensively in large part because JMU was able to match its corners like Curtis Oliver, Jimmy Moreland and Charles Tutt one-on-one with the Bearkats receivers.

Oliver had an interception in the championship game and Moreland recorded seven pass breakups in the postseason. Rashad Robinson, who began the season as one of the starters along with Reynolds at corner, returns after missing the postseason with injury.

Kicker

•Gray: Sophmore kicker Tyler Gray wasn’t always consistent, but he came through when JMU needed him the most.

Gray’s 45-yarder at North Dakota State was a play that changed momentum to help the Dukes advance to the title game.